Christmas Means

It is believed that Christ was born on the 25th, the month is up for debate as it is not known. December was likely chosen so the Catholic Church could compete with rival pagan rituals held at that time of year and because of its closeness with the winter solstice in the Northern hemisphere, a traditional time of celebration among many ancient cultures.

When Jesus was born the three wise men saw a bright star and followed that star to Bethlehem They came baring gifts of gold, frankincense and myrrh. These are the first recorded Christmas gifts and seem to set the precedent for future giving. Christians believe that Christ was born to cleanse us of our sins.

The Egyptians were part of a long line of cultures that treasured and worshipped evergreens. When the winter solstice arrive, they brought green date palm leaves into their homes to symbolize life's triumph over death.

The Romans celebrated the winter solstice with a feast called Saturnalia in honor of Saturnus, the god of agriculture. They decorated their houses with greens and lights and exchanged gifts. They gave coins for prosperity, pastries for happiness, and lamps to light one's journey through life.

Centuries ago in Great Britain, woods priests called Druids used evergreens during mysterious winter solstice rituals. The Druids used holly and mistletoe as symbols of eternal life, and place evergreen branches over doors to keep away evil spirits.

Although there are many stories of how the Christmas tree became such a symbol of Christmas the most widely accepted is that it started as a German tradition in the 16th century and the tradition was brought over to America by German immigrants in the 1700's but did not become popular until in America until about 1850.

Some believe both holly and mistletoe were hung in doorways of temples and the homes of pagans to invoke powers of fertility in those who stood beneath and kissed, causing the spirits of the god and goddess to enter them. Druids decorated their homes with mistletoe to celebrate the coming of winter.

They believed the plant had special healing powers for everything from female infertility to poison. Scandinavians also thought of mistletoe as a plant of peace and harmony. They associated mistletoe with their goddess of love, Frigga. This is probably where custom of kissing under the mistletoe derived from.

There are many stories as to how Santa Clause came about but here is the most commonly told...

Saint Nicholas was the bishop of Myra in Lycia, which is in modern Turkey, sometime before AD 350. Nothing is known of his life except for the legends that have built up around him, but he was associated with kindness to children. He was a widely admired saint throughout the eastern and western churches.

The Dutch custom of giving presents to children on St. Nicholas Day was brought to America by early Dutch settlers in New Amsterdam, which was renamed New York when the British took over the colony. Santa Claus is the American pronunciation of Sinter Klaas, which was colloquial Dutch for Saint Nicholas.

Many centuries ago in a small village lived a man. This man had three beautiful daughters. The mans wife was ill, which caused him to spend all his money trying to help her. She passed away. The man was left with no money to marry off his daughters.

He was worried for them and what would happen to them after his death. One fine day, St. Nicholas was passing through the village, when he overheard some of the villagers discussing the pitiable condition of the three girls. St. Nicholas wanted to help the poor father, but he knew that the old man wouldn't accept money from him.

St. Nicholas decided to secretly help the family. He waited until it was dark and stealthily sneaked into their house, through the chimney. He had three bags of gold coins with him, one for each girl. As he was looking for a place to keep those three bags, he noticed the three girls had hung their stockings over the mantelpiece for drying.

He put each bag in each stocking and quickly left as quietly as he had come. When the girls and their father awoke the next morning, they were thrilled to find the bags of gold coins. He happily married off his daughters, one after the other, and they remained happy for all their days.

The story of the first cane shaped candy goes back to 1670, when the choirmaster at the Cologne Cathedral in Germany, bent the sugar-sticks into canes to represent a shepherd's staff.

The all-white candy canes were given out to children during the long-winded nativity services. Candy canes have also been said to have come to be when Christians were living under more oppressive circumstances. It was said that the cane was shaped like a "J" for Jesus.

No one knows exactly where the stripes came from as the original canes were all white, but many believe that the red-and-white stripes represented Christ's blood and purity. The three red stripes symbolized the Holy Trinity.